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Glite Dictionary
hieratic script

hieratic script

9.9
A fast, flowing form of ancient Egyptian writing used by priests for religious and official texts
  • noun
  • /haɪəˈrætɪk skrɪpt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : escritura hierática
  • The ancient hieratic script was used primarily for religious documents in ancient Egypt.

Examples

  • In museums, you can see examples of hieratic script on papyrus scrolls from ancient Egypt.

  • Scholars studied hieratic script to understand the religious practices of ancient Egyptian priests.

  • This early Semitic scrawl points to ties between Egyptian hieratic script and the earliest known alphabet.

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Synonyms

cursive script
vshieratic script
1 4.4

Handwriting in which letters join together in a smooth, flowing way

is used mainly by priests in ancient Egypt rather than as a general handwriting style
hieratic
vshieratic script
  • Specialized
9.9

A quick handwritten Egyptian script used by priests for religious texts

is the fuller form that explicitly identifies the writing system

Surface Forms

hieratic script singular
hieratic scripts plural

Morphology

hieratic + script

The meaning is directly compositional: 'hieratic' denotes a particular cursive form of Egyptian writing and 'script' means a system or style of writing, so together they straightforwardly name that type of writing. There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift; although 'hieratic' is specialised vocabulary, a learner who knows both constituents will understand the MWE.

Etymology

The term hieratic script comes from a Greek word for 'priest' because temple priests used a quick, handwritten form of the old picture writing instead of carved symbols. That's why hieratic refers to a priestly, handwritten script used on papyrus for religious and administrative texts.